Images

Photograph showing white-faced ibis nesting at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Great Salt Lake, Utah. U.S.

USGS scientists measured the concentrations of select endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in Spirit Creek, Georgia, as part of an assessment of the effects of the closure of a wastewater treatment plant. Sprit Creek is typical of a stream in coastal environments.

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) hydrologist making field notes during winter water quality sampling from a stream in north central Iowa.

Picture of the freshwater snail (Lymnaea stagnalis) used in the laboratory exposure tests to understand metal uptake and bioavailability.

Highest stream mycotoxin concentrations were observed during spring snowmelt conditions in agricultural settings such as pictured in this Iowa stream.

The mayfly (Cinygmula) is one of the insects scientists use to study the bioaccumulation of dissolved and dietary metals.

Left: Distillation rig used in the measurement of microbial sulfate reduction rates associated with a method based on the incubation of sediment samples with radioactively labeled sulfate. Photographer: M. Marvin-DiPasquale. Date: 3/5/2001.

USGS hydrographers collecting a water-quality sample at the Zumbro River near Rochester, Minnesota

A professional applicator applies coal-tar-based sealcoat to a test plot used to measure emission of polycyclic aromatic carbons (PAHs) into the air.

The team of USGS scientists collected stream water samples before and after rainfall events for this study. In this photo a USGS scientist is taking measurements of field parameters (dissolved oxygen, water temperature, specific conductance, and pH) from New York Branch, Iowa, at low flow (baseflow) conditions.

View of stream water following a manure spill, which has strongly discolored the water.

Upper workings of the Pennsylvania Mine in the headwaters of Peru Creek, Colorado. 

Mountain Sheep Spring, Arizona, is one of the 37 springs north of the Grand Canyon near areas of breccia-pipe uranium mining that U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists studied.

This cyanobacterium has radiating filaments and basal heterocysts. Green is Sytox Green (a DNA stain that is excluded from live cells).

Schmutz Spring, Arizona, is one of the 37 springs north of the Grand Canyon near areas of breccia-pipe uranium mining that U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists studied.

Pigeon Canyon in northern Arizona is just north of the Grand Canyon. Here, Pigeon Spring emerges in Pigeon Canyon just before it merges with Snake Gulch in northern Arizona.

USGS scientists installing passive sediment samplers in an irrigation ditch near Hancock, Wisconsin. The samplers are designed to collect suspended sediment from streams over a 3-week period. 

USGS scientist collecting water samples from an amphibian monitoring site in Livermore, California.

USGS scientist collecting water samples for pesticide analysis at Woodward Resevoir Pond near Oakdale, California.

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image of diatoms with zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists are studying the linkages between contaminant bioavailability and toxicity, especially in aquatic organisms exposed to metals and metallo-nanomaterials through solution and diet.

This photo shows a snow plow and road salt application truck that is used to clear snow and ice from roadways for improving traffic and pedestrian safety. The use of salt to deice pavement can be harmful to aquatic life in urban streams. The USGS is involved in studies that focus on the influence of winter runoff on aquatic ecosystems.